2018Q3SpiritedVA - 9

FEATURED SPIRIT

Flavored Whiskeys
The bounty of taste combinations has exploded.

irginia ABC's shelves are stocked
with a variety of flavored whiskeys,
from cinnamon, cherry, honey and coffee,
to orange, banana, vanilla, butterscotch and
even apple pie.
In the late '70s, Wild Turkey put out a honeyflavored bourbon, but it didn't gain a following.
It wasn't until 2010-when Jim Beam released
Red Stag black cherry bourbon-that the
concept really exploded. Now you can find a
wide range of flavored bourbons on the shelf.
MurLarkey Distilled Spirits in Bristow makes
a number of distinctive craft spirits, including
their one-of-a-kind Banana Whiskey. To create
this unique drink, baby bananas are added
to the whiskey, while it's aging in a white oak
barrel, so that the rich fruit flavor can soak
into the drink. Like all MurLarkey products,
this one is hand crafted, all natural and made
in small batches. Enjoy Banana Whiskey over
ice, served neat or mixed in a highball.
Old Camp Peach Pecan Whiskey has a
delicate, highly textured flavor profile. This
bourbon is subtle on the nose and perfect
for sipping. The taste is smooth and buttery,
the peach and pecan never overpowering
the classic bourbon essence. This is a fairly
inexpensive drink but the taste is top-shelf.
The award-winning Blackback Honey Rye
Whiskey-distillated by Silverback in Afton-is

named in honor of the blackback gorillas
that are young, feisty and powerful; it's an
appropriate name for a robust, distinctive
whiskey. Silverback is a "grain to glass"
distillery that teams up with area farmers to
make their spirits from locally grown grains,
and they're committed to ecologically-sound
practices. Their Honey Rye is a low-proof
whiskey with notes of oak, tea leaves and
raw honey.
One of the most unusual and provocative
flavored whiskeys is Evan Williams Cherry
Reserve. Pale amber in color, it has cherry,
plum and almonds on the palate. At only
70 proof, this is a light spirit with a unique
pipe-tobacco finish.
Knob Creek's Smoked Maple is a mix of
their original Kentucky Straight Bourbon and
natural flavors. It has a rich aroma of maple
and smoked hickory, and a full-bodied taste
of maple syrup, caramel and vanilla. The
finish is smooth, smoky and just a little sweet.
Bird Dog, from Kentucky, has a wide range
of flavored whiskeys, but they're not the usual
suspects. Their Grapefruit and Jalapeno
Honey whiskeys, for instance, don't taste
like anything else on the market. The first
is gold amber in color with a deep ruby red
grapefruit flavor and a side order of sweet
caramel, but at its heart this is still a classic
bourbon. The Jalapeno Honey is a spirited mix
of two very different yet quite complimentary
flavors, one sweet and the other spicy. The
result is a full-bodied, balanced whiskey that
won a Gold Medal at the San Francisco World
Spirits competition.
Thomas Murray, Founder & CEO of
MurLarkey, argues that flavored whiskeys
are a hot market item whose popularity has
been shaped by a worldwide surge in whiskeydrinking and the craft spirit movement.
"I guess you could call it a phenomenon,"
he says. It seems that flavored whiskeys are
here to stay.
-Andrew Madigan

SPIRITED VIRGINIA | JULY | AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 9

2018Q3SpiritedVA

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